NORRISTOWN - A truck driver has turned down a plea agreement offer and opted to go to trial on charges of vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment in connection with a February 2011 crash in Hatfield Township that claimed the life of a Bucks County motorcyclist.

Ernest Demetrius Cohens, 43, of Bronx, N.Y., through his lawyer, indicated in Montgomery County Court on Monday that he is aware that all plea agreement offers will now be off the table.

Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman explained to the judge that Cohens and prosecutors could not reach a plea agreement and that Cohens is requesting a two-day, non-jury trial in connection with the Feb. 3, 2011, crash that claimed the life of 55-year-old Terry Kriebel of Sellersville. The judge immediately set the trial date for May 21.

The terms of the proposed plea offer were not revealed to the judge during the hearing.

Cohens, who is being held in the county jail in lieu of $500,000 cash bail pending trial, did not comment on the matter as he was escorted by sheriff's deputies from the courtroom for the return trip to jail.

While Cohens decided to go to trial on the vehicular homicide charge he did plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of possessing obscene materials in connection with a video authorities found on Cohens' cell phone while they investigated the fatal crash. The cell phone, according to court documents, contained a sexually explicit video of a male child between the ages of 2 and 3 and an adult female.

Under the plea agreement reached only on that one charge, the judge sentenced Cohens to five years' probation.

A judge previously denied Cohens' request to have the vehicular homicide charge dismissed, determining that when Cohens waived his preliminary hearing on the charges, he 'thereby waived any challenge that the evidence is insufficient' to move the case to trial.

'Recklessness and causation are issues that properly remain for determination by the fact finder at trial,' Senior Judge William T. Nicholas wrote in a previous order denying Cohens' request.

Cohens previously argued in court papers that the vehicular homicide charge should be dismissed against him, implying Kriebel's conduct was 'a substantial factor' in the crash. Drossner, hinting at potential trial defense strategies, argued Cohens did not act recklessly or with gross negligence when he made an alleged illegal U-turn on Route 309 and collided with Kriebel's motorcycle.

Drossner maintained 'the decedent's speeding and swerving on his motorcycle, while under the influence of marijuana, was a substantial factor in his death' and 'those actions significantly diminish Mr. Cohens' responsibility for making an illegal U-turn.'

But Cauffman has challenged Cohens' attempt to dismiss the charges and to place blame on Kriebel, arguing Cohens' 'reckless and grossly negligent' conduct caused the death of the motorcyclist. Furthermore, Cauffman argued in pretrial court papers, Cohens' attempts to label Kriebel as 'under the influence of marijuana' at the time of the crash 'are totally baseless and unsupported by science.'

Cauffman argued that while investigative reports indicated Kriebel had 'metabolites,' or traces, of components of marijuana in his system, there is no evidence Kriebel was operating under the influence of marijuana.

Additionally, Cauffman argued, Cohens' claims that Kriebel was speeding and swerving prior to the crash are unsupported by facts 'and are merely an attempt to blame the victim.'

In addition to vehicular homicide and reckless endangerment, Cohens is awaiting trial on charges of accidents involving death while not properly licensed, flight to avoid apprehension and numerous motor vehicle violations in connection with the crash.

Kriebel was killed in the alleged hit-and-run crash near Sterling Drive when Cohens attempted to make a U-turn on Route 309 while traveling southbound and collided with Kriebel's motorcycle, according to prosecutors.

Cohens, authorities alleged, got out of his truck after the crash, walked over to Kriebel's body and assisted another motorist in covering the body with a towel or sheet before getting back in his truck and driving away.

Hilltown Township police located Cohens' disabled truck about 6:40 a.m. after Cohens allegedly struck two utility poles and a bridge in the area, according to court papers. At that time, Cohens allegedly told police he had been involved in a crash and left the scene, according to prosecutors.

According to the arrest affidavit, Cohens' license had been suspended a total of 22 times since April 2007 for traffic violations, failures to pay fines, and failures to answer summonses, and was suspended at the time of the crash.

Court documents also alleged that an inspection conducted the day after the crash uncovered a total of 25 additional motor vehicle violations on the 2005 Volvo tractor trailer Cohens was driving at the time of the fatal crash.

In addition to a suspended license and incomplete daily logbooks, those violations listed in the affidavit included inoperable turn signal, hazard warning, identification, and license plate lights, a three inch break in the truck's windshield, missing warning flags on the oversize load of steel beams the trailer was carrying, holes in the trailer's flooring, and an airbrake system that had not been adjusted to compensate for wear.

During a search of Cohens' truck, police located a copy of Cohens' driver's license history dated April, 23, 2010, and a handwritten note that stated he 'had an issue with his license,' according to court papers.